Limited oil output to prove beneficial: Oil Minister
The decision made by OPEC and nonOPEC member nations to slash oil production will have positive ripple effects on all nations involved, Kuwaiti Minister of Oil Essam Al-Marzouq said yesterday. Qatar is holding up its end of the bargain, with a reduced output of 30,000 barrels per day (bpd), said Marzouq, who doubles as Minister of Electricity and Water.
“Qatar’s level of commitment to the deal is around 93 to 102 percent,” he added. In a meeting last month, OPEC officials agreed to protract the accord, pushing the deadline to March of 2018. In November, OPEC along with 10 non-OPEC members, including Russia, struck a deal to limit oil output by 1.8 million bpd in an effort to restore stability in the global oil market.
The OPEC daily basket price stood at $47.37 per barrel last Monday, compared with $47.37 pb the previous day, said the international organization yesterday. The monthly average of the basket in May of 2017 was $49.20 pb while in April of 2017 it was at $51.37 pb.
OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Qatar Marine (Qatar), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE), Merey (Venezuela), Girassol (Angola), and Oriente (Ecuador). The price of Kuwaiti oil was down by one cent to settle at $46.34 per barrel Monday after it was at $46.35 pb last Friday, the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) said yesterday. At the global level, the price was down due to fears generating from Saudi Arabia severing ties with Qatar.
The incident was said to have an impact on the OPEC’s deal to lower production due to Saudi Arabia being one of the world major producers. The price of the Brent crude was down by 48 cents to $49.47 per barrel, the same case with the West Texas Intermediate, which went down by 26 cents to $47.40 pb. — KUNA